


You Don't Know Me

by Myoneloveismusic



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Crossdressing, M/M, Secret Identity, Undercover, universe altered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 21:23:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12690486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myoneloveismusic/pseuds/Myoneloveismusic
Summary: Jason Todd is used to seeing victims tremble in fear and do whatever it takes to try and make it out of the situation. But when a certain girl is able to fight back and take down her assailants while handcuffed well, he can't help but be just a little intrigued.~Tim Drake is trying to do his vigilante work and sometimes that means going undercover. But when a certain red-helmet, gun-toting vigilante takes notice of him, things start to become more than a little complicated.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so happy to finally be posting for the DCU Bang! This has been a concept I've been obsessed with for a while so it's great to finally be posting it. :D
> 
> Link to the accompanying art by Jaykore: http://jaykore.tumblr.com/post/167402512800/you-dont-know-me-by-myoneloveismusic-drawn
> 
> It's absolutely amazing, go check it out!!!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> <3 MOLIM

Jason slipped through the window and onto the upper level of the warehouse. It was easy to keep to the shadows, the poor lighting in the place doing nothing to give away his location, not to mention the fact that he’d always been pretty good at blending in and hiding in plain sight. He stepped over to the railing, overlooking the scene below to get an idea of what was happening.

A young girl, blond, petite, had been taken in by a group of nasty looking guys. She may not know how nasty, but he knew. He knew all too well. The group was part of a human trafficking ring that he’d been tracking for weeks now. The extent of the organization was unknown, the hits taken in small groups of three or four guys. Inconspicuous enough to not draw attention, but also big enough to subdue even the most intense of fighters that they might end up having on their hands.

His hands tightened over the metal railing when the conversation managed to float up to him. He wanted to jump down and rip their throats out even if he didn’t know what else they’d been up to.

“Come on, girlie, be nice and good for us and we’ll have them treat you well.”

“They let us break in the new merchandise. We’ll be gentle the first time around. Make it good.”

One of the group stepped up behind her and made to grab her around the waist, but she evaded quickly, spitting in the guy’s direction.

Jason had to hand it to her. She had guts. She didn’t look frightened at all, only really pissed off if the scowl she was sporting was anything to go by. She still looked a little intimidating, even with her hands tied behind her back.

One of the other guys growled and stepped forward, but she backed away, keeping the space between them.

“You don’t want to make us angry,” he said, pulling a knife from his belt. “We’re allowed to bring in new goods using any means necessary. And as long as we keep that face of yours pretty, we can hit you with any nonlethal strikes we want.”

“I dare you to try it and see where that gets you,” she hissed.

Jason winced, because he really didn’t think that it was in her best interest to threaten the guys who could do serious harm. He was also a little surprised, because her voice was a little deeper than he was expecting, but still pleasing to listen to. It was smooth, like melted chocolate. And he needed to stop thinking about that before he made himself hungry.

The group was becoming very unamused, very fast. They fanned out into a triangular shape and Jason watched the girl tense. It took him a minute to realize that she wasn’t tensing as a negative reaction or trying to shy away from them, she looked like she was ready to jump into battle. He stared transfixed as the three rushed her. He nearly jumped over the bar and into the fray, but the first move she made stopped him.

The guy to her right was closest. He didn’t have a weapon on him, making him an easy target which she took advantage of. She kicked upwards and hit him in the jaw, sending him stumbling backwards, clutching at his face and dazed. The guy with the knife was in front of her and swung out, but she jumped back, avoiding the blade with ease and obvious practice.

Just how many times had she been in this type of situation before?

She swept her leg in an arc, hitting the top of the guy’s forearm and forcing him to drop the blade. Before letting her foot hit the ground, she drew it back and kicked him in the stomach, earning a heavy ‘oof’ as the air rushed from his lungs. Jason’s breath caught in his throat. He was captivated by the sight before him.

She moved with grace and ease. Even as the two guys without weapons rushed her from both sides, she jumped, tucking her legs into her chest to bring her arms underneath them so they were in front of her. She moved to balance on her tied hands and kicked her legs out, knocking the two guys back and away from her. It reminded him of Nightwing and had the flair of an acrobat.

Once back on her feet, she grabbed the knife and cut her wrists free, letting the rope fall to the side and brandishing the knife as the group got back to their feet. They were all wary now. They’d seen a demonstration of what she was capable of, but they knew they couldn’t just run away. She’d already seen their faces and knew about the trafficking ring.

Even though Jason couldn’t see it, he was sure that her eyes were flicking from person to person, taking in all the information she would need before her final strike. There was a second where time seemed to stop. Everyone was frozen, Jason was waiting to see what would happen next, and none of the guys on the ground below him were drawing in a breath. And then it broke. In a magnificent way.

She rushed them, overtaking them easily as they scrambled over themselves to back up or put up some sort of defense. She went for the one on the right first, lashing out with a powerful roundhouse that left him clutching his side and gasping. Coupled with a nerve strike, he was the first to fall to the ground.

The other two scrambled away, hoping that they could at least make it to the exit in time. The leader of the group tripped his other partner up in an attempt to get away. He didn’t fall, but the girl used him as a springboard, in the split second after it was lights out for him, in order to gain the distance the leader had on her. She threw the knife at him, hitting his thigh and he stumbled, going to his knees. He tried crawling, hoping to make it out the door, but the girl just approached him calmly and sent a hit to his neck, leaving him to slump down against the ground.

Jason took that as his chance to drop down from the upper level. Once he was in sight the girl jumped back several steps and fell into a fighting stance. He put up his hands to try and calm her down.

“Relax, I’m not here to hurt you.”

She eyed him warily, obviously suspicious.

“I’m not going to bother asking if they hurt you, because it’s obvious they didn’t. But who are you?” He watched her stiffen and her eyes widen. So she didn’t want him to know who she was. “Any normal person wouldn’t have that type of skill to go up against three men…hey wait!”

She turned and sprinted from the building, getting swallowed in the darkness beyond. Jason cursed under his breath and hurried across the warehouse floor. When he got into the alley outside, he looked up and down in both directions, but saw no sign of her or where she might’ve gotten off to.

“Shit.”

He wanted to run after her. Track her down and get some answers. Or at least take her to a clinic so that she could get checked over just in case, but the pained groans that sounded behind him reminded him that this group needed to be taken care of. He couldn’t exactly let them get back to their organization. That would defeat the whole purpose of everything that had happened really.

Jason huffed and walked back inside, pulling the zip ties from one of his pockets. The group was still pretty out of it, so he thankfully didn’t have to put up with a struggle from any of them. He left them in a nice line in the center of the room and put in a call for the cops to come and pick them up. Normally he’d stick around and make sure the cops did their job right, but he had a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed fighter who he wanted to track down.

He just hoped that he wouldn’t have to go to anyone else in order to help him. He didn’t need anyone to start asking him weird questions about this. He just wanted to make sure that she was okay and maybe find out if she was in some kind of trouble. You didn’t get that skilled in fighting just for shits and gigs.

~~~~~

Tim clamped a hand over his mouth, trying to slow his heartrate and not give away his location because his breathing was too loud. If Red Hood decided to come looking for him, he knew he was in trouble. Next time he did this, he’d have to remember to bring his grapple gun with him, because he really didn’t need to be cornered like this.

He heard the guy mutter a quiet curse and walk back inside the warehouse. Tim took that as his chance to hurry through the buildings, making as little noise as possible. He’d gotten dragged pretty far from where he’d stowed his change of clothes and needed to get back to them immediately. His current disguise was too obvious and he hadn’t brought his uniform along in case someone happened to find it by accident.

Red Hood finding his way on to the same trafficking case as him was not something that he’d expected, but it shouldn’t have surprised him that someone else had taken notice. The only difference was that he was able to pass on which cases he was taking to the other vigilantes of Gotham so that they knew what he was working on.

They all kept their distance from each other in order to keep their identities a secret. The less compromised they were in the field, the better. But Red Hood was an enigma. A somewhat loose cannon that he didn’t know much about. He hadn’t interacted with him often since they both had a silent agreement to stay away from each other’s patrol routes.

Tim slipped through the streets away from the warehouses. He left them behind quickly and kept an eye out for more trouble. Even though he wasn’t looking to be kidnapped for the second time by the same organization, that didn’t mean that someone wouldn’t try something. And he wanted to avoid being tailed by Red Hood as much as possible.

He shot glances towards the rooftops, letting about a quiet sigh of relief when he didn’t catch anyone following. Keeping one eye on the sky and the other on the streets, he finally made it back to the alley where he’d stored his things and found it blessedly empty. Maybe for once in his life, things were actually going to work out without any more hiccups. He hurried to the back of the alley and pulled his duffel from behind a set of overflowing trashcans. A hoard of mice scurried away from and he sneered, he’d need to disinfect his bag when he got back to his apartment.

“You look a little lost there, Princess.”

Tim’s shoulders sagged as the voice rang out from behind him. The whole point of this was to not have to deal with another confrontation with another idiot. He looked over his shoulder and glared at the guy. He wasn’t that big or muscular. The only thing that people would probably find intimidating in Gotham were the ripped and dirty clothes and the slightly crazed expression on his face.

“I don’t have time for this,” he muttered and dug around in his duffle. He’d debated leaving his grapple gun at home with his uniform, but was really glad that he’d brought it along with him now.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” the guy exploded, making Tim roll his eyes.

He pulled his grapple and shot a line up to the roof.

“Fuck off, you pig,” he spat before pressing the retract button and getting whisked away to the roof.

“Hey!” The guy shouted after him.

Tim smirked, all too happy to get away from the guy who was probably planning on trying to rape him. As he stowed his grapple back in his duffle, he thought that maybe it would’ve been better if he’d stayed and fought. It would’ve kept him from trying to track someone else down. But then again…most people knew to stay indoors when it got this late.

Tightening his grip on the strap of his bag, he took one last look at the surrounding buildings to make sure that none of the other vigilantes were nearby. If they caught him up here, they would probably end up questioning him and he didn’t really want to have to explain that he was actually Red Robin and was just undercover. Plus, facing off with one of the other masks without a domino of his own would leave him feeling put out and at a disadvantage.

He took off across the buildings until he was several blocks away from where he’d been before. There was a nearby fast food place that was open late and thankfully pretty busy. Tim dropped down into the alley next to it and walked around the front, making a beeline for the bathroom as soon as he was inside. No one took notice of him as he came in and he knew that no one would take notice of him as he left.

He slipped into the handicapped room and locked the door behind him, letting his duffle fall to the floor. He unzipped it quickly and pulled out a pair of jeans, a button down, and a hoodie. The first thing that Tim pulled off was his wig. He threw it into the duffle and changed quickly, pulling the hood up on his jacket when he was done and slinging the duffle over his shoulder.

He cracked open the door and looked out into the hallway that was empty. It wasn’t like he was expecting anyone to be there, but he could never be too careful. He left the restaurant behind as easily and quickly as he’d come. He hurried down the street, knowing that if he even wanted to have a chance at getting back out to patrol that he needed to get back and get changed.

The rooftops above him remained deserted all the way back to his apartment and he was thankful for it. He wouldn’t have to deal with a confrontation with Red Hood that night and if he was lucky he’d never run into the guy again, especially since he was planning on having to go undercover more often than he would like over the next few weeks. Tim knew that he was smart enough to find a work around for having to dress up, but that was the price he paid for fast and accurate intel.

He threw his duffel down on his bed and pulled his Red Robin uniform from his closet to change. It wasn’t too late yet and there was still a lot of prime patrol time that he needed to cover. Splitting his patrol wasn’t the easiest thing to do, especially when he couldn’t exactly rely on any of the other vigilantes for help, but he was going to take it. As much as he didn’t want to leave anyone helpless on Gotham’s streets, he also knew that by stopping the human trafficking group, he’d be saving a lot more people from very unpleasant experiences.

Tim secured his domino on his face and smoothed his hands over the Kevlar covering his body. There was always something great about putting his uniform on before leaving for patrol. He didn’t think there was any other feeling like it in the world that he’d been privy to. It was addicting. And that was probably why he was never able to stop himself from continuing to work as a vigilante.

He hurried over to his apartment window and quickly unarmed his security measures before stepping out onto the fire escape. The alley below him was dark and covered his movements. Only another vigilante or someone with infrared or night vision goggles would be able to catch sight of him and as far as he knew, petty criminals didn’t just carry those types of gadgets around with them when they hit the streets.

Tim pulled himself up to the roof of his apartment complex and stood looking over the streets and buildings beyond. He relaxed as the wind whipped at his cape and ruffled his hair. He gave himself a second to breathe in before taking off across the rooftops in search of crime and people needed saving, any thoughts of Red Hood and their encounter earlier was momentarily swept from his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

Tim ran down an alley and froze when he was met with a brick wall. He swore under his breath, knowing that he’d taken a wrong turn since this wasn’t the place where he was trying to lead the group that he’d distracted, but it would have to do anyway. He was glad that he wasn’t wearing heels, but even the high-tops he was sporting weren’t the most conducive to running. He’d have to change up his disguise if running was going to become a regular thing. While he was at it he might even switch out the long blond wig for something shorter. A pixie cut would do nicely and give people less of an opportunity to pull it off.

He turned and faced the three guys who’d followed him. The leader of the group stepped forward and tried to look menacing. The effect was lost since him and the rest of the group were all struggling to catch their breath.

“Looks…like…you…really backed…yourself into…a corner,” he said between breaths.

Tim smiled a little dangerously. “Nah, you just took the bait.” He was about to step forward when someone dropped down in front of him and blocked his path. Or the path of the guys who were coming after him. Tim stumbled backwards as he took in the red helmet that he’d come to know the night before.

The Red Hood lunged forward even as the group tried to run back out of the alley. He didn’t even have to pull out his guns to take the three of them down. Or maybe he chose not to because Tim was there and he didn’t want to freak out the person who he thought was innocent. When he was finished, he turned and approached Tim who stepped back and eyed him warily.

Red Hood froze and held up his hands in what Tim thought was supposed to be a calming gesture. It didn’t make him any less wary about who he was dealing with. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I could’ve handled them. They were exhausted just following me,” Tim answered tightly.

“I don’t doubt that you could after I saw you take out those guys the other night. What I do want to know is how you learned how to fight like that.”

“That’s none of your business. I know how to fight. That’s all you need to know. Now stay out of my affairs.”

Tim moved to try and get around Red Hood to reach the mouth of the alley, but he matched his movements.

“Look, it’s not usual for people on the streets to have those sets of skills when it comes to fighting. If you’re in some kind of trouble I can help.”

“I’m not in any kind of trouble.” When Tim made to move around him this time he let him pass which he was grateful for. “Next time I’d appreciate it if you stay out of my business. Stick to your patrol. It’ll be better for both of us that way.”

Tim left him behind as he exited the alley and turned down the street in much less of a hurry than he was when he entered it. He didn’t trust Red Hood to give up so easily and his suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of him following him along the rooftops. He kept his pace steady, not moving urgently, but not going slow enough to draw attention from some of the worse guys on the streets. He didn’t need to get involved in fights with people who weren’t involved in the case he was working on and he didn’t need to get caught up in petty criminals while he was undercover.

Besides, if he got into a fight now while Red Hood was tailing him then that would get him involved and just raise more questions that he didn’t want to deal with. He didn’t know why he was on his radar, but he was. And he wanted to be off of it. It was only going to make his work on the case more difficult if he had a vigilante tailing him every night that he was out in disguise.

Tim turned the corner onto a new street and felt some of the tension bleed from his shoulders when the familiar restaurant came into view. He knew that Red Hood wouldn’t follow him inside and he was glad that he’d stowed a change of clothes inside before heading out. It would look less suspicious than if he’d pulled out a duffel that he’d stowed in an alley like how he’d been operating.

He slipped through the door and walked purposefully towards the restaurant, giving off the air that someone was already waiting for him. It wasn’t too hard to make it through the patrons when everyone only saw him as a harmless girl. He curbed a smile. How wrong they were. But that’s why it made his disguise so successful.

The bathroom was empty and he locked the door behind him. Moving quickly he jumped up onto one of the toilet seats in the stall and moved the ceiling panel to the side to pull his backpack free. He dropped back down to the floor and rummaged inside, pulling out his change of jeans and the hoodie that he’d stowed. He pulled off his wig and threw it into the backpack before exchanging his jean shorts for jeans. He pulled the hoodie over his head but left the hood down.

He slung the backpack over his shoulder and hurried from the bathroom, glad that no one had tried to come in during the few minutes he’d spent changing. He really didn’t need to get kicked out of here. He slipped back through the restaurant and out the front door. When the cool night air hit his face he pulled up the hood and glanced up at the buildings across the street.

Just as Tim had suspected, Red Hood was perched on one of the buildings and watching the restaurant entrance. Tim kept the same steady pace as before as he headed down the street, relieved that the vigilante wasn’t following him. It meant that he didn’t suspect a thing which would help if he kept trying to tail him while he was working.

He was really going to have to make some modifications on his disguise if for no other reason than to keep the Red Hood from following him and digging into his persona. Having vigilantes ask questions was only going to lead to some very uncomfortable conversations. And he wasn’t about to let anyone know what his secret identity is. Anyone who tried to figure it out was going to have hell to pay.

~

Jason sighed and checked his watch for the third time since he’d seen the girl walk into the restaurant. There was no reason why she needed to be in there so long. He was already seeing couples who’d gone in after her, come out. He wanted to storm the place. He wanted to go in and grab her and just get some fucking answers because there was no way that she was telling the truth when it came to where she learned how to fight.

She had skills that couldn’t be picked up in self-defense class and she didn’t seem to have the kind of discipline and teachings that came with learning martial arts. He knew that he was missing something. He just didn’t know what it was yet.

When Jason went to check his watch for the fourth time, he made a horrifying realization. He cursed under his breath and pulled his grapple from his belt, swinging across the street quickly so he landed on the rooftop. He circled the building looking for other exits and found one that went into the alley next to the restaurant. Even if she’d slipped out that way she still would’ve had to exit out onto the street to leave since there wasn’t a back alley behind the buildings.

He racked his brains searching for some sort of answer. There was no way that he would’ve missed her coming back out. And unless she had a skill for tracking vigilantes, she wouldn’t have known that he was following. That only left two options: that she was still inside which he doubted very much or that she’d changed into something else and he hadn’t noticed when she’d come back out.

Jason paced the roof as he continued to think. He knew that she wasn’t carrying a backpack with her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have stowed one ahead of time. He tried to think back and remember if anyone who’d come out of the restaurant had been carrying a backpack. He remembered seeing one or more than one, but he couldn’t put a face with it. He stopped in his tracks and sighed, tilting his head up towards the sky.

“I’m going to have to ask around, aren’t I?” he asked the sky. He sighed heavily, feeling his shoulders sag under the weight of what he was actually doing. He knew that he wasn’t willing to go to the Bat. Their truce was shaky at best and he didn’t think asking about this girl was going to help matters between them at all. Robin would be as willing to help him as a rock. He’d never even approached Batgirl or Orphan and didn’t know if they would attack him on sight or actually talk to him.

Jason groaned. That only left the acrobat. He sighed, searching for some way to get around that conversation and found no solution short of talking to Oracle herself, but she would probably be just as reluctant as Batman since she pretty much knew everyone’s secret identities. He wasn’t that far from Nightwing’s patrol route either.

He slowly trudged across the rooftop, wanting to take as long as possible to put off the conversation they were going to have. He let himself get distracted whenever there was a bit of crime happening in the alleys below him, because what kind of vigilante would he be if he let those types of things go?

All too soon, Jason found himself on a rooftop along Nightwing’s patrol route. He probably could’ve thought out his plan better considering he wasn’t sure if he’d already passed by that particular spot during the night or if he was even nearby.

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath. “I really fucked this one up, didn’t I?”

“If you’re talking about the fact that you’re in the middle of my patrol, then yes, you have.”

Jason looked up and caught sight of Nightwing, perched on top of the roof top entrance.

“Well looks like it wasn’t that hard to find you after all.”

“What do you want? You don’t usually take time out of your night to drop in with the other vigilantes.”

“Relax, I’m just trying to find some information.”

“Information?” he questioned, before dropping down onto the roof to approach Jason. “What kind of information?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Who?”

“For the past two nights on patrol I’ve run into this girl who’s gotten caught up in the smuggling ring that I’ve been investigating. But I’m pretty sure that she’s been getting cornered on purpose because she’s an incredible fighter and leads these guys where she wants them to go. I know that she can take care of herself but I’m concerned that something might be wrong in her personal life if she’s gotten to be so good at fighting.”

Nightwing hummed. “And you haven’t been able to get any information from her?”

“No, she’s pretty tight-lipped and suspicious.”

“I haven’t heard of anyone like that. Are you sure it’s not just some self-defense moves she could’ve picked up in a class?”

“I’m telling you it’s not. The first time that I saw her fight, she took down a group of three guys. While handcuffed.”

Nightwing let out a low whistle. “Okay now I understand why your curiosity is piqued and you’re interested in this girl. Like I said, I haven’t heard anything about her and haven’t seen anyone like this so I can’t be of much help. What I do know is that Red Robin was working on a similar case so he might know something. He could’ve encountered her in his work like you did so you might have more luck with him.”

“Thanks Nightwing. Do you know if he’s patrolling tonight?”

“He should be. I think about now he’s over by 12th street. Good luck finding him and this girl. I need to get back to patrol.”

Jason raised a hand as Nightwing sprinted off and did a flip over to the next building. He hadn’t even considered Red Robin being someone he could go to when he was thinking things over earlier. Probably since they both stayed away from each other. He turned and faced the direction that Nightwing had pointed him to and pulled out his grapple. If he was lucky he wouldn’t have to spend too much time hunting down this vigilante. He’d gotten lucky with Nightwing. Hopefully he could get lucky twice in one night.

He crossed buildings quickly and used his grapple more than he normally would. His itch to gather information had returned and he wanted answers. Being in the dark about something was one of the things that he hated.

Jason paused on top of a building on 12th street and looked in both directions, squinting into the darkness. He barely caught sight of a cape towards the end of the street and hurried in that direction. So he _could_ get lucky twice in one night. Red Robin’s progress across the buildings visibly slowed as he approached. Jason thought that he looked a little skittish, like he was ready to run away if he made one wrong move.

He held up his hands to try and calm him down. He wasn’t here to fight after all. “Relax Red Robin, I’m not here to fight or whatever it is you think I’m here for.”

“What do you want, then?” he asked, angling his body away.

“I’m looking for some information. Nightwing said you might be able to help since you’re involved with a case about a human trafficking ring.”

“Go on.”

Jason relaxed slightly, glad that he was cooperating with him for the moment. “I’ve been working on something similar and the past two nights I’ve run into this girl while on patrol. She’s a really good fighter and can obviously hold her own, but I’m just concerned that things might not be going too well in her home life. I know that it’s not every day we come across people with those kinds of skills and I want to make sure she hasn’t had to learn that for other reasons.”

“Red Hood, if she’s that good of a fighter I’m sure that you have nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t know. I just can’t help but think there’s something more going on here. Something that’s not entirely good…”

“This is Gotham. You’d be hard pressed to find something or someone that was entirely good. Look, I get that you’re concerned. It’s hard not to be when you’re already acting the part of a vigilante, but if she says that she’s fine and you’ve seen her hold her own in a fight, then there’s probably not much more you can do. From what you’ve told me it seems like she’s not going to be one who would appreciate you asking around about her and digging for information. I think that it’s probably best to let this go for the moment and if you do catch her in some serious danger then you can talk to her about it then.”

Jason sighed. He hated to admit it, but he could agree with what Red Robin was saying on some level. He knew that she wouldn’t appreciate him digging around, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to make sure that she was safe. He didn’t want her to feel like she had to go out on the streets and fight. He wanted to tell her to leave that to the trained vigilantes.

“I get what you’re saying,” Jason conceded. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, thanks.”

“Red Hood just stay out of it, okay?” he asked, again.

Jason could tell that he was suspecting that he wasn’t going to listen and was still going to operate how he wanted. And he was right. But that didn’t mean that he had to let him know that.

“If you’re ever around my route, don’t be afraid to drop by,” Jason said with a wave as he turned and headed back to his territory. His mind raced with several possibilities as to who he might be dealing with. Red Robin had made some decent points, he would give him that, but he just didn’t feel like he could give up on this girl. He was worried that she was going down a path that was going to get her seriously hurt, or worse.

Hell, he’d been on that path himself until he decided to change things. And if it meant that he could keep someone else from becoming another casualty or supervillain or mob boss or gang member, then he was going to try his damnedest to make sure they didn’t go down that road.


	3. Chapter 3

Tim was glad when he was finally able to put together a new disguise. He switched out the blond wig for a brown one that was slightly shorter so the hair only came down to just above his shoulders instead of hanging down his back. His clothes had pretty much stayed the same, but he switched out the converse for some more stylish Nikes. Which he was really happy about considering the mess he’d gotten himself in that night.

He’d been doing so well. He’d cornered the guys and beat them up, but he hadn’t realized that they had a friend who was hiding in the warehouse. Apparently the knowledge that there was a girl who was taking down various parts of the ring was finally spreading around and they were actually taking precautions for once.

The idiot had quickly pulled a gun and Tim was not about to wait around to get shot when he was only wearing Jean shorts and a crop top with a bomber jacket. He was more than glad that the warehouse was on the edge of the district so it didn’t take long for them to get back to more residential streets. That didn’t help the fact that he had a chaser at all, but he was just going to deal with one thing at a time.

The guy on his tail was fast, but not fast enough to stay right behind him. And he apparently didn’t have the skill to run and shoot at the same time. Or maybe he’d just forgotten about the gun he was carrying entirely, Tim wasn’t really sure and he didn’t really care as long as he found somewhere to take care of the guy privately before he could shoot him.

Tim scanned the buildings in front of him and made a sharp turn when he alighted on an alley. He was relieved to find it empty. Having to fight someone else was not what he needed at the moment. He crouched behind the dumpster and placed a hand over his mouth to calm his breathing as his chaser approached. He heard him skid to a stop as he got to the mouth of the alley, no doubt wary because Tim wasn’t just standing there like a loon.

“Come out, little girl. Don’t you want to play?” he growled.

Tim rolled his eyes and listened as his footsteps got closer. He slowly raised up from his crouch, not enough to be seen, but enough so that once he came into sight he’d be able to jump him. Each step that he took further into the alley was agonizingly slow.

“Hnngahhh.”

Tim furrowed his brow at the muffled noise and what sounded like a person getting tackled. He straightened and nearly groaned at the sight of Red Hood standing over his chaser. He thought he’d be free of this by now.

He walked out from behind the dumpster and saw his chaser was laying there limply, gun kicked to the side.

Tim scowled at him as he looked up. He stepped forward over the boy, not approaching him, but just so that he wasn’t standing on top of the guy. Not that he probably cared about that.

“You changed your hair.”

It took all of Tim’s training so that he didn’t gape at him. Of everything that he was expecting to come out of his mouth, that was probably the last thing. Red Hood took another step forward and then another. He was slowly closing the distance between them when he was certain that Tim wasn’t going to run. Tim, on the other hand, was just tired. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with this conversation and he was desperate for one thing to go right in his life.

“Look I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, raising his hands.

Tim eyed him warily. He knew that after their conversation the night before. Not that Red Hood knew it was him he was talking to. He sighed.

“What do you want?”

“I just want to make sure that you’re okay. I saw you running from that guy through the streets. I know that you’re strong and that you can hold your own in a fight. I’ve already seen it so many times myself that the two of us could probably have a lengthy spar.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I just want to know that you’re not in trouble. You changed your appearance and to someone who’s seen a lot of stuff that’s not exactly a good sign.”

“I’m fine, okay? And maybe I just wanted a change. I’ve had blond hair a long time and thought that it might be good to try out a new look. And I don’t need you asking about my wellbeing. I’m fine. I can handle myself like you said. I don’t need anyone’s protection. I don’t need to be put under _your_ protection. That’ll probably just bring more trouble my way.”

Red Hood held out his hands, palms up. “Can’t you at least let me look out for you? You’re out here all on your own and I don’t think that’s smart.”

“You vigilantes all work on your own,” Tim said, gritting his teeth. He was getting really tired of all of this.

“We don’t. We can also rely on the other vigilantes for help if we need it. But you don’t have anyone so let me be there to help. Please, I just-“

“Look, I already have someone okay?” Tim snapped. “I’ve got someone looking out for my back so you can stop.”

Red Hood stilled. “Who?”

Tim hesitated. If he gave out a name that would drag them into this and if Red Hood went searching for them to question them and didn’t know who they were talking about that would just blow up in his face.

“Look if you don’t tell me who it is, I’m not going to leave you alone until I know that you’re safe. So if you really don’t-“

“Red Robin. Red Robin’s looking out for me okay? Now can you just let me handle my own work?”

Red Hood looked over him again. Tim really wished that he wasn’t wearing his helmet because he had no idea what sort of expression he was making. He didn’t know if he was pleased with this information of if he was utterly livid. Tim fought the urge to bite his lip when they continued to stand in silence.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Red Robin’s got your back. I’ll let you get back to your work then.”

He shot his grapple up to the roof of the building and took off over the rooftops. Tim let out a breath once he was finally out of sight. He was probably going to go looking for Red Robin, but he wasn’t about to find him. Tim guessed that he was going to be getting a verbal lashing from him later since Red Hood would now be under the impression that Tim had been lying to him. He just hoped that he could resolve this whole situation without it blowing up in his face.

He edged to the mouth of the alley. The streets were deserted as usual. He turned down the sidewalk and walked purposefully, keeping to the shadows and watching the streets and windows around him. He hurried down the streets and made a sharp turn down the street where the restaurant was that he was using that night. He nearly froze when he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned his head to look, there was nothing there.

_You’re getting paranoid,_ he thought to himself angrily.

Tim slipped through the door to the restaurant and walked through the main room to the back where the restrooms were. No one gave him second looks as usual, all the workers assuming that he was there meeting someone. He was glad to find the family restroom was empty. He didn’t want to have to wait around any longer than was absolutely necessary.

He pulled down the backpack that he’d shoved into the ceiling and started pulling out his clothes. He cursed when he got to the bottom of the bag and found that he didn’t have a change of jeans. He grabbed his hoodie and hoped against hope that they’d just gotten shoved inside, but there was nothing there.

He bit his lip and looked down at the jean shorts he was wearing. They wouldn’t pass for men’s shorts since they were so short. His hoodie was a bit longer so he might be able to figure something out to cover everything. He stuffed the wig into his bag and pulled off the jacket that he’d been wearing. Tim pulled on the hoodie and moved to stand in front of the mirror. His pale legs stood out noticeably and hated that this was happening, but he couldn’t risk going back to his place in his disguise.

He cursed under his breath and pulled his hood up before stuffing everything into his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He unlocked the bathroom door and slipped out. Tim kept his head down as he walked back through the restaurant and out the front entrance. He’d have to come up with a better plan then this for dealing with his changes. Or maybe he’d just stop with the whole plan of going undercover. That would solve all of his problems.

Tim shivered involuntarily as he walked down the sidewalk. He felt overly exposed in the shorts. His eyes flitted to the rooftops, checking to make sure that he was still alone. He felt like someone was following him. Felt like the next alley he passed he was going to have someone jump out at him, but every time he turned around or checked the rooftops, there was nothing. He was utterly alone.

He slipped into the alley next to his apartment building and climbed up the fire escape. He melted back into the shadows on the third level and waited. Each minute ticked by slower and slower. But still he waited.

Once thirty minutes had passed, Tim finally gave in and climbed up the rest of the fire escape to slip through his window. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing his hood back. He let his backpack slip from his shoulders and threw it onto the couch. He only made it a step before whirling around.

Red Hood stood just inside of his window. Tim narrowed his eyes and took a step back, angling his body away from the vigilante.

“What do you want?” Tim hissed.

“I wanted answers. And it looks like I got them in the most spectacular of fashions,” Red Hood replied, crossing his arms and leaning up against the windows. “You know, of all the outcomes for the girl who I thought I’d been going after, this was really not one of them.”

“Well looks can certainly be deceiving. You’ve known that from the beginning.”

Red Hood uncrossed his arms and stepped forward rather abruptly. “You’re right about that. So…now that I know that you’re not somehow in trouble at home and aren’t the victim of domestic abuse…why is young socialite and business tycoon Tim Drake running around in disguise at night?”

“Most likely for the same reason you strap guns to yourself and put on a red helmet.”

“That’s not an answer,” he said, coming closer.

Tim watched him warily, but didn’t move. “I was concerned. About the human trafficking ring. I wanted to do something. And this was what I decided on.”

“Still not the answer I was looking for, but I’ll take it for now,” Red Hood said, walking around him.

“So…what do you want now, then? You’ve found out who I am. What are you going to do with that information? What are you going to do about me?”

“Try and figure you out. Like I said, I’m not satisfied with the answer that you gave me so I want to know,” Red Hood said, stepping back until he could take a seat on Tim’s couch. He threw an arm over the back of the couch and crossed his legs. Tim thought he looked entirely too comfortable in the middle of his apartment.

“So you’re just going to stay and hang out in my apartment?” Tim asked in total disbelief. “Don’t you have something to do? A gang to break up? A case to solve? Someone to save on the streets?”

Red Hood shrugged. “There’s always something to do. This is what I’m choosing to do right now.”

“Whatever. If you’re going to stay, don’t touch my stuff. I need a shower,” Tim said, turning on his heel.

He stalked into his bedroom and gathered a change of clothes as fast as he could before slipping back down the hallway and into the bathroom. He needed time to think. He had to figure out what was going on because he had no idea what to do in that moment. He turned on the water and stripped out of his clothes, tossing them to the floor.

His eyes caught his reflection and he looked over the scars that littered his body. He’d have to be careful. Especially if Red Hood was going to be hanging around. It was bad enough that he was on his radar as a civilian, but he couldn’t let him get suspicious by seeing his scars. He’d need to keep away from his apartment when he had to go out as Red Robin, too. It wouldn’t do to give Red Hood even more information to hold against him.

Tim showered quickly, his mind racing all the while. His computer and files would be protected enough. Red Hood wouldn’t be able to get very far unless he had some impressive hacking skills. And Tim was betting on the fact that he didn’t. The only physical file that he kept around was on the trafficking ring that both of them were working on. He’d just assume that was the only information he had and it shouldn’t give him any suspicions as to what he really did at night.

The best that he could do would be to try and drive Red Hood away every chance he got. Try and convince him that there was nothing more underneath him. Nothing more to who he was. That was his best bet and he could only hope that it wouldn’t blow up in his face.

Feeling a little more confident in the situation, Tim shut of the water and stepped out of the shower stall to dry off. He pulled on the pair of sweats and the tee that he’d brought with him. He looked over himself in the mirror and was pleased that it covered most of the scars on his arms. The ones he did have, Red Hood would probably just assume they were from the fighting that he did do.

He stepped out into the hallway and walked back to the main room, freezing when he found it empty. He narrowed his eyes and looked around, carefully stepping forward.

“Red Hood?” he called. He got no answer. When he turned his gaze on the kitchen, he spotted several plastic bags on the counter. Confused, he walked over to them and found that they were groceries and had a note on the top of the bag.

_Tim,_

_I was appalled by the lack of decent food in your apartment so I took the liberty of going and doing some shopping for you. Eat something that’s not a prepackaged microwave meal or junk food for what’s probably the first time in your life. It’ll keep you from dying before the age of thirty._

Instead of a signature at the bottom of the page, Red Hood had just drawn a crude representation of his helmet.

The note just confused Tim even more. For one thing, where did he get the money to buy groceries for Tim and how did he manage to get these back before he got out of the shower? An image came to mind of Red Hood grappling through Gotham with the plastic bags looped around his wrist and he immediately burst into laughter. He would’ve loved to have been around to see that.

He set the note to the side and looked through what he’d been brought. Most of it was fruits and veggies in the bags. There were a couple of boxes of pasta as well as sauce. He moved over to the fridge and opened it to find packages of meat and chicken inside along with a carton of milk and some eggs.

Tim let the doors of the fridge fall shut and he turned back to look over his now empty living room. He glanced at the window and sighed. He needed to start with resetting his security to make sure Red Hood couldn’t get back inside. And then he was going to need to do a sweep for bugs. Both things would have to be done before he could leave as Red Robin. And he probably wasn’t going to be able to leave as Red Robin in case someone was watching.

He sighed and got to work.


	4. Chapter 4

Tim was about to grab his uniform and stuff it into a bag to take to one of his safehouses so that he could change and go patrol when it happened. He heard the window in his living room slide open gently. It was obvious that whoever it was wasn’t trying too hard to conceal their presence and when Tim walked back down the hall and turned into the living room he understood why.

“What are you doing here?” Tim blurted as Red Hood closed the window behind him.

“I wanted to check in and see how you were doing,” he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Wanted to make sure that you haven’t gotten yourself into any trouble while I wasn’t looking.”

Tim ran a hand through his hair. “Well I’m fine. Is that all you needed? Or was there another reason why you came?”

Red Hood turned and started walking towards the kitchen slowly as though he was taking in the state of Tim’s apartment. “Maybe I just wanted to visit. Make sure you hadn’t died from not eating any proper food.”

He started pulling open the cabinets and looking through the food that he’d brought the night before. The only thing that Tim had been brave enough to try and cook had been some pasta and sauce. He wasn’t prepared to try and cook anything more complex since he didn’t really have the finesse that it took to work in the kitchen.

“I see you made some pasta. You have something against meat?”

“I’m not very skilled when it comes to cooking,” Tim admitted and crossed his arms. “I’ll let you fill in the rest of the blanks with whatever scenario you would like to imagine.”

“Seriously?” he asked, glancing towards him and Tim knew that if he wasn’t wearing his helmet, Tim would probably see him raising an eyebrow at him.

Tim shrugged.

“Geez, hopeless rich kids who don’t know how to cook.” He sighed and started pulling off his gauntlets. He set them on the table and draped his jacket over the back of the chair.

Tim watched in confusion as Red Hood started going through his cookware and pulled out a pan and some spices that he hadn’t even noticed before. It wasn’t until he pulled a package of chicken from the fridge that he found it in himself to speak.

“Wait, you’re cooking for me?” he asked, nearly tripping over his own two feet to get to the kitchen to make sure this was actually happening and he wasn’t dreaming.

“Yeah, you have a problem with it? I’m not going to poison you if that’s what you’re worried about. I tried too hard to make sure that you wouldn’t die and weren’t getting hurt. It’d be pretty sick if I was only going to turn around and hurt you myself.”

“No I’m not worried about being poisoned, I’m just…surprised. Why would you want to cook for me?” Tim asked, utterly confused.

“Just think of this as date number one,” he replied, grin audible.

Tim snorted. “Great. Now I’m stuck with someone who’s delusional and holding me hostage for a date.”

“Not holding you hostage. You’re free to leave anytime. It’s just how willing you are to leave me along in your apartment. Plus, there is a very likely chance that I would eat all of this food and then where would you be?”

“Hopefully without you since you’d leave when the food ran out.”

“I bought the first round of groceries for you. There’s nothing stopping me from doing it again. Replenish the food and there’s nothing that’s going to force me out.”

Tim shook his head and turned away from the man. He tried to think of something that he could do while he waited since it was obvious that he wouldn’t be going on patrol for a while. He thought about going over his cases as long as he kept Red Hood away from his computer. His files had been kept hidden since the night before. He rarely kept books in his place since he didn’t have much time to read and there was nothing that needed to be done for Drake Industries.

“Hey, Tim?”

Being called by his first name was new. It was sort of weird having a vigilante address him as something other than his own persona.

“Yeah?”

“How did you come to know Red Robin anyway? You said that he was looking out for you, but I never knew him to go over to the areas where you were cornering those guys who were part of the trafficking ring.”

Tim looked over his shoulder. Red Hood was working diligently at the stove and he looked completely relaxed and at home in his kitchen which was something he never thought he’d experience. With a sigh, he took a seat at the kitchen table and propped his feet up on the chair opposite him.

“We just ran into each other one night. Sort of how you met me the first time. I was investigating and he thought that I needed help. I didn’t. We stay out of each other’s way. He doesn’t feel the need to shadow me because he knows that I can take care of myself. Unlike the current person who’s standing in my kitchen and cooking,” he finished with a roll of his eyes.

“But what if something happens to you? What if you end up getting into some serious trouble and he’s not there to help you? What if he doesn’t come?” Red Hood argued. Tim could tell there was something underneath his tone. He just wasn’t sure what that was.

“That’s not going to happen. I know that I won’t get into those types of situations. And if I do, he’ll come.”

“But how will you know?!” Red Hood asked, whirling around.

Tim was so taken aback with his outburst that he was only able to stare.

“How can you be so certain that he’s going to be there?”

“I-I-“

“See?!” He asked, pointing the spatula he was holding at him. “You can’t even say for sure that he will be there! You don’t know!”

Tim stared at him. He didn’t know what to say. He’d never really met someone who cared that much about him to want to make sure that he was okay. And it made it even stranger now that Red Hood knew who he was under the wig.

Red Hood turned back to the stove and continued to cook. “I just…I want to make sure that you’re okay. I want to know that you’re safe.”

“Why?” Tim’s question held so much. Why did he care? Why was he interested in him of all people? Why did he worry about where he learned to fight? Why was he insisting on staying to cook for him? Why had he bought him groceries?

“Because…because there’s something about you that I don’t entirely understand. You’re successful and have money and don’t need to risk yourself each night to work on these cases. I find it admirable because that’s what I do, but…you deserve more than getting hurt. You should be able to settle down with a nice girl and have a nice family and live your life without having to worry about all of these other things.”

Tim didn’t know what to say. He knew that he needed to say something, but he didn’t know what. So he latched onto the easiest thing that he could comment on.

“I’m never going to settle down with a nice girl and have a family.” He sighed. “A nice boy would be preferred.”

He looked away from where Red Hood was at his stove. He was waiting for the outburst. Waiting for the surprise that no one like him could possibly be gay. Waiting for him to storm out and the comments that he shouldn’t be protected and that he should just be stabbed on the street.

What did come was a clatter. Tim looked over and found that he’d dropped the spatula he was holding to spin around. Tim knew that he was probably gaping at him underneath the helmet. He raised a hand and pointed a finger at him.

“You-you’re gay?” he asked, voice thick with disbelief.

Tim shrugged. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“No, I just didn’t think…”

“It’s not a public thing. I don’t want to be made into a spectacle,” Tim said with a shrug, trying to brush it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You don’t want to be ridiculed and taunted,” he said softly before bending down to pick up the spatula. He set it in the sink before moving to find another one.

“Yeah.”

They were quiet for a moment as Red Hood worked on the kitchen.

“Is that why you know how to fight so well?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.

“No.”

He let out a breath that sounded strange through the helmet. “Good. I wouldn’t have wanted you to have to learn because of that. That would just be cruel. I admit that it does help though.”

“Why?”

“People can’t exactly call you weak for being gay if you can put them on their asses.”

Tim was quiet for a moment. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Maybe I am,” he admitted.

Tim welcomed the silence that came after the statement. It gave him a chance to think and be. It didn’t need a response from him and he didn’t know what to say. It was better leaving it as it was then undermining the meaning behind it just to try to offer some half-hearted comfort that Red Hood probably didn’t even want.

Instead, he let himself watch Red Hood work in his kitchen. Watched as his steady hands cut vegetables and sautéed them with the chicken and added spices that he didn’t even remember seeing in his cabinets. The care that he was taking in cooking for him seemed to go beyond reason, but he figured he was past the point of needing to complain. His stomach definitely wasn’t when it started to growl from the combination of smells.

Red Hood carried two plates over to the table and sat down across from Tim after he moved his feet off the chair and tucked them underneath himself instead.

“How are you going to eat while wearing your helmet?” Tim asked.

Red Hood reached up and undid the catches before pulling it off. Tim stared, expecting to see his face once it was off, but was met with a red domino mask.

“Of course you’re wearing a domino.”

He grinned and Tim thought his smile was rather nice. “Don’t sound so disappointed. I can’t just go around letting people know who I am underneath it all.”

Tim picked up his fork and speared a piece of chicken. “Just surprised that you thought that far ahead is all. I didn’t realize that you were planning to come and cook before you even left for patrol.”

“Who says I was? I could wear this under the helmet all the time and you wouldn’t have known until now.”

“I guess that’s true,” Tim agreed reluctantly.

“Don’t sound so put out by it.”

“I’m not put out, Hood!” he snapped, angrily chewing on a piece of bell pepper.

“Hood?” he asked.

“Is that a problem? It just kind of slipped out. I don’t really have anything else to call you and saying Red Hood over and over again is already tiresome.”

“Nah, I like it. Feel free to call me that all you like, Timmy,” he said, smiling.

Tim rolled his eyes at the nickname and went back to eating his food. The guy didn’t seem so bad. Especially when he cooked as well as he did.

~~

After a week, Tim stopped being surprised by each visit Hood paid to him. He was used to having to push his patrol back until later when he could actually sneak out to one of his safehouses to get suited up. It meant that he had to work more quickly, but he never liked having time to dawdle anyway.

Most of the time when Hood came by he would cook for Tim. And bring more groceries. He still wondered how he managed to get so many bags of food to his place. Did he grabble there? Did he have a car or a bike? Did he walk? It never made sense. Maybe he could drop a line to Oracle and ask for any footage of him caught on security cameras. Even if he managed to avoid them on the street, there was no way that he couldn’t get out of them in a store.

He knew that Hood had to start his patrol before he did, or he got suited up just to visit him. He was starting to wonder what was true and what conclusions were his brain just trying to make sense of the whole situation. Tim hadn’t even been able to go out in his disguise to deal with the gangs, but it always seemed that Hood took care of them by the time he got to those parts of town on his patrol.

Maybe that was his motivation for coming. He thought he was keeping him out of trouble when he really had no idea of the full story. It wasn’t anything that was going to get straightened out soon. Hood would never learn that he was a vigilante and he’d never learn his secret identity. That’s just how they operated and this wasn’t a fairytale.

A loud crash broke through Tim’s thoughts and had him rushing into the living room. Hood had managed to get his window open just fine, but he’d fallen to the floor in a heap, hand holding his side where Tim could see the dark color of blood staining his suit. Without thinking, Tim rushed to his bathroom and pulled out the first aid kit that he kept.

“Pull off you armor and let me see,” he instructed.

Hood did as instructed, hissing when his armor fell away and let up the pressure on the cut. Tim grabbed a disinfectant wipe and quickly worked to clean up the blood around the cut.

“Looks like it’s shallow. Shouldn’t need any stitches.” Tim tossed the wipe to the side and pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He used it to wet a cloth and pressed it against the cut firmly, but not harshly. When blood started to saturate the cloth he added that to the wipe he’d used earlier and pulled out a square piece of bandage, expertly taping it to cover the wound.

“There,” he sighed, letting his hands fall away as he sat back on his heels.

He watched as Hood slowly undid the catches of his helmet and pulled it off. The domino was still there underneath and Tim averted his eyes, unsure of what expression was hidden behind it.

“How did you get so good at this?” he asked.

Tim busied himself with putting the things in the first aid kit away and gathering the dirty supplies that needed to be thrown away. “I had to get good. I didn’t always come out of scrapes unscathed.”

Hood placed a hand on his arm to stop him. “If you’re getting hurt like that…why do you keep doing it? You can still stop.”

“The same could be said about you, but you have no problem risking yourself to protect Gotham. And I can’t stop, okay? It’s become too much of my life. This is who I am and I’m not being reckless. I’m as careful as I can be. There are just some things that you don’t expect when you’re out and some people have surprises that you weren’t expecting.”

Hood let his hand fall away and Tim took the chance to get to his feet and move back to the bathroom. He put the first aid kit back under the sink and the dirty supplies in the special trashcan that he kept separated for discreet disposal. He didn’t need anyone weird going through his trash and finding anything that could possibly compromise him.

He glanced at his reflection and sighed. The night had only begun and he was already tired. He hadn’t even made it out to patrol yet, but he just wanted to go back to bed. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before heading back out into the main room. Hood had put his armor back on and was standing with his helmet between his hands. He looked up as Tim entered.

“Thanks for patching me up.”

Tim shrugged. “It’s no big deal really. Consider it a repayment for all of the meals that you’ve cooked for me.”

“So does that mean that I can come to you whenever I get into a bad scrape?” he asked with a grin.

“As long as you don’t bleed all over my couch I guess I could allow it,” he conceded, rubbing the back of his neck and dropping his gaze to the floor.

“Look, Tim…”

“Yeah?”

A gloved hand rested against his cheek and tilted his head up.

“What-“ he began to ask, but was cut off as Hood’s lips pressed against his. It lasted for only a moment before Hood was pulling away. He shoved his helmet back on and left through his window without a word as Tim gaped at him.

Long after Hood had left, Tim was still there. Finally, he managed to break out of his daze and brought his fingers up to his lips.

“Shit.”


	5. Chapter 5

Tim spent most of the day, and night, after Hood kissed him for the first time, pretty much obsessing over the kiss. It was nice, he could admit that to himself. But he didn’t know what it meant. Did he want to date? Were they already dating? They pretty much had dinner together every night and Hood cooked for him. They hadn’t been very touchy-feely so he wasn’t sure what went beyond that. Most of their conversations were held over the dinner table.

Hell, Tim knew pretty much nothing about Hood other than vague things they talked about that wouldn’t reveal who he really was. And his continual insistence that Tim should give up going undercover even though that was only a minor aspect of what he really did. Not that he knew that.

The sound of the window being pushed open had Tim tensing where he was in his bedroom. He quickly pulled on a pair of boxers and sweatpants and threw on a t shirt before hurrying to replace his towel in the bathroom.

“Tim?” Hood called from the living room.

“Yeah?” he asked, hurrying down the hallway to the main room. They nearly collided when Hood swung around the corner to the hallway. He grabbed onto Tim’s elbows to steady him. His grip was firm, but kind and it did nothing except remind Tim of the kiss they’d shared the night before. He flushed and looked down.

“What’s up?” Tim asked, clearing his throat.

Hood squeezed his elbows before letting his hands slowly fall away. “I wanted to know if you wanted to do something fun tonight.”

“Something fun?” Tim asked, confused.

“Yeah! Grab a hoodie and put on some shoes.”

“Um…okay.” Tim’s mind raced with possibilities. He had no idea what they could be going to do. He was so used to them just sitting around and eating dinner and talking. Last night had been the first time when anything else had happened and now suddenly Hood wanted to take him somewhere. He knew that he could probably just tell him that he wanted to stay inside, but another part of him was curious as to what he was going to show him.

After exchanging his sweats for jeans and throwing on a hoodie over his shirt, he shoved his feet into a pair of sneakers and joined Hood where he was by the window. He held it open and Tim crawled out onto his fire escape-the first time that he’d done so out of costume.

“Head up to the roof,” he instructed as he got everything locked up for Tim. After the first time that Hood had broken through his security, he’d stopped changing it aside from his scheduled reprograms since it would just get broken through again anyway.

Tim felt oddly exposed on the roof. He crossed his arms and shivered as he looked over the buildings around him. He never realized how small he could feel, standing over Gotham with nothing to protect him. He felt more than heard when Hood stepped up next to him, the warmth radiating off of his body had Tim involuntarily leaning into his space. Hood wrapped an arm around his waist and they stood there for a few minutes, breathing in the still air.

“So,” Tim said, clearing his throat. “So what did you want to show me?”

“Have you ever seen what Gotham looks like from above?” he asked, pulling him closer.

Tim couldn’t even fight the way he leaned into Hood’s warmth even if he wanted to. “Well…”

“Actually, don’t answer that. I’m sure you’ve been on the rooftops at least once. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m going to show you Gotham from the sky.”

He pulled Tim over to the edge of the roof and Tim’s eyes widened.

“Wait, Hood, what are you-“

Hood took hold of his arms and wrapped them around his neck. “Hold on tight, Timmy. I’m going to take you flying.”

Tim watched as he pulled a grapple gun from his belt. “Wait, what do you-“

He cut himself off with a gasp as they went into a freefall off the side of the building. Tim pressed his body against Hood and secured his arms and legs around his torso. He nearly squeezed his eyes shut, but then he caught sight of the hazy sky, it was so different from the view that he was used to seeing when he flew from building to building that he stared.

The stars were still masked. He was sure that they always would be if not for the smog than from the light pollution from some of the larger buildings and billboards. But seeing everything fall away was almost magical, not terrifying like anyone else would’ve suspected.

Traffic and people passed by below them, not even looking up as they hurried to get off the streets at the late hour. Tim turned his head and looked at Hood’s helmet. They were so close and if he hadn’t been wearing it…

Tim felt his face heat up and tried very hard to keep his find from fixating on their position. For the most part, Hood was using both of his hands to operate his grapple gun, but when he didn’t need to, his free arm would wrap around Tim’s back to keep him close and make sure he was still there.

“You still doing okay?”

Tim barely caught the words through the rush of wind that surrounded them. He swallowed. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Let me know if you want to stop or something.”

“It’s just…where are we going?”

“Nowhere and everywhere. I figured that we could go around a couple blocks before I bring you back. I’m sure you don’t have time to stay out all night and-“

A scream broke through what Hood was trying to say.

“Shit,” he swore and immediately changed course, landing on top of a building next to an alley. He set Tim down and hurried toward the edge. “Stay here, Tim. This won’t take very long.”

“But wait, I can help!” he almost cringed once the words were out of his mouth because he was supposed to be acting the part of a mostly civilian. He wasn’t dressed as Red Robin.

“No, Tim. Stay here. You don’t have anything to fight with and I told you already that you should stop throwing yourself into danger like you have been.”

Tim felt anger boil up inside him at the words, but didn’t get the chance to protest before Hood was jumping into the alley below. He hurried over to the edge and saw that it was only a mugger and a woman. The fire escape looked rickety, but most sturdy things in Gotham still tended to have that appearance.

He cleared the side of the building easily and landed on the fire escape without making any noise. He hurried down quickly, managing to avoid most of the noisy spots. He pulled his hood up to keep his face shadowed and dropped over the railing on the last edge to avoid the noisy pulldown ladder.

Tim landed in a crouch next to the woman who gasped and tried to back away. He held his hands up to keep from scaring her further.

“I’m not here to hurt you, I’m with him,” he said jabbing a thumb at the Red Hood who was taking his time in fighting off the mugger. “Let me help you get somewhere safe.”

He held out his hand and she hesitantly reached out with a nod. Tim pulled her from the alley and back to the main sidewalk where a few more stragglers were making their way home.

“Where do you need to go?” he asked, stopping just short of a circle of light from a streetlamp.

She shook her head and smiled. “I’ll be all right from here. My building is down the next block.”

Tim hesitated.

“Really, I’m fine,” she said before turning on her heel and walking down the street quickly.

Tim felt bad about leaving her and wished that he had his own grapple so that he could make sure she got home safe. He’s just have to get back to a fire escape and get to the rooftops to make sure. He turned around and came face to face with Hood’s chest. Hood silently wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him back up to the roof.

“I thought I told you to stay put,” he said, voice barely hiding the anger he was feeling.

“And I told you that I could help,” Tim shot back his earlier anger returning.

“You’ve could’ve been hurt-“

“So could you!” he shouted. “I’m not just some innocent bystander who needs to be protected! I have skills! I know how to fight!”

“You didn’t have any armor or weapons,” he tried protesting.

Tim rolled his eyes so hard that it almost hurt. “I don’t have armor on a regular night,” when he wasn’t in his actual uniform, but Hood didn’t need to know that. “And I don’t have to have weapons to be able to fight. I’m just as good at hand-to-hand.”

“That still doesn’t mean-“ Hood tried to argue again.

“Then let me prove it!” Tim said before he could stop himself.

Hood stilled in front of him. “What?” he asked.

“Let me prove to you how good of a fighter that I am. Fight me. Right here, right now.” Tim knew that he was probably putting his identity at risk, but he couldn’t help it. He was tired of Hood thinking that he was some damsel in distress. He was more than that, damn it, and he wasn’t going to stop fighting this until Hood got it through his thick helmet.

“You really want to fight me?” he asked.

“Yes!” Tim said, throwing his hood back.

“Fine,” he relented, slipping off his leather jacket and pulling off his helmet. “But if I win, you have to stop putting yourself in danger.”

“Fine,” Tim bit out. “But if I win, you have to let this whole overprotective thing drop once and for all.”

Hood gave a curt nod and fell back into a fighting stance. Tim did the same and waited for him to make the first move to see what it would be. Hood rushed forward, lashing out quickly. Tim dodged most of the punches quickly. A left hook came at him quickly and he was forced to block with the brunt of his forearm, but used that as cover to loose a roundhouse at Hood’s side.

Hood moved with the hit and put a couple feet between them. They watched each other for a moment before rushing at the same time. Tim kicked out again, but Hood grabbed hold of his leg and spun him. Tim let himself go with the movement and planted his hands on the ground, kicking his other leg at Hood’s chest and forcing him to let go and step back.

Tim righted himself quickly and moved forward again. Hood was wary. Well, as wary as he could be for a vigilante and seemed to no longer be underestimating him.

They moved well together, not willing to give much ground. It set Tim’s blood alight with the thrill of it. He hadn’t experienced something so exhilarating or truly fun like this in a while.

“What the hell is going on here, Hood?”

The sound of a new voice breaking through his concentration caused Tim to lose his balance on another kick. He started falling to the side when Hood’s arm snapped out and grabbed ahold of his wrist to stop him from slamming into the rooftop. He helped Tim to his feet who let out a shaky laugh and they turned to the newcomer.

Tim felt his stomach sink at the sight of Nightwing standing in front of them. He wanted nothing more than to pull his hood up, but knew that it wouldn’t do any good since his face had already been seen anyway.

Nightwing gaped at him. “Tim Drake?! Hood you’re fighting Tim _Drake_?! Did you kidnap him or something?” Nightwing turned to him. “Did he kidnap you or something?”

Tim looked between Hood and Nightwing. “Um, no. He didn’t.”

“Then why were you fighting on top of a roof?”

“Uh…because we got into an argument?”

Jason groaned and hung his head.

Nightwing crossed his arms. “Care to explain further?”

“Look Nightwing we’re fine, it’s not a big deal,” Hood broke in. “We were just trying to settle something.”

“You were trying to settle something with Tim Drake in a rooftop fight? Seriously I’m going to need a better explanation than just that.”

“I’m really fine,” Tim bit out. “Hood here didn’t think that I could hold my own so I challenged him to a fight which was when you showed up.”

“You do realize that you probably just made all of this worse,” Hood groaned.

Nightwing held up his hands and took a step back. “Look this whole thing is just confusing me so I’m going to pretend that I didn’t see this for a moment and let you get back to whatever weird thing you were in the middle of. Please just don’t kill each other. I don’t need Batman coming after my head because of this.”

Tim let out a sigh of relief when Nightwing turned his back and grappled away. Hood walked in front of him and gripped his chin, tilting his head back. His eyes searched his face and the white pupils of the domino and for a second he suspected that he would’ve seen a rather heated gaze boring into his own if he could see his eyes.

“I admit that you are a good fighter and that you can hold your own,” he started. “But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to give up protecting you. I’m invested in you now and there’s no way that I could just let you go when you’ve already wormed your way into my life.”

Tim’s heart skipped a beat and he swiped his tongue over his dry lips. “Can you try to cut back on your protectiveness a little bit? You’ve made your point that I can’t get rid of you, but I’ve made my point that I can protect myself on some level. I’m invested in my work and it’s going to take a lot more than you being protective to convince me to give it up.”

Hood sighed and let his chin go. He was about to ask what was going on when one of his arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him flush against his chest. Hood dipped his head and claimed his lips in a searing kiss. It was more heated and dominant than the night before. Tim’s hands came up to grip the lapels of Hood’s jacket, trying not to be overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of it all.

Hood pulled back slowly, but didn’t put any more space between them. He leaned their heads together. “God Tim, what are you doing to me?”

Tim’s stomach flipped. He shared the sentiment more than he wanted to admit.

“Okay,” Hood said, taking a step back and shoving his helmet back on and reaching for his jacket. “I should get you back to your place so that I can do some more serious patrolling.”

Tim climbed into Hood’s arms-less reluctantly than the first time-and watched as buildings passed them by as they headed back to his apartment. Before letting him head back downstairs, Hood held Tim in his arms for a moment and cupped one side of his face, running his thumb over his cheek.

“Stay safe,” he said before pulling away and disappearing into the night.

Tim slowly picked his way down to his apartment and crawled inside. So many things were conflicting inside of him, but for some reason he wasn’t worried about it. He could share Hood’s sentiment about not knowing what was happening to him. He did his best to push the thoughts to the side and decided to get suited up for patrol. Maybe that would take his mind off things.


	6. Chapter 6

It was only a few days after their rooftop escapade when Tim was caught off-guard yet again by something that Hood decided to do. They were having dinner in his apartment like usual and Tim got up from his seat to take the plates over to the sink to wash them. They’d gotten into a routine where Hood would cook and Tim would clean up. Before he could even wrap his fingers around the edge of Hood’s plate, he was pulled into his lap.

“Hood?” Tim asked, wondering whether he should pull free or let himself be held.

“Tim. I want you to take off my domino.”

“What?” he asked, staring at the white slits of the mask.

“Take off my domino.”

Tim tried to pull out of his hold, but was kept in place. If he really wanted to, he could’ve had Hood on the floor so he wasn’t really trying that hard.

“I can’t just take off your domino.”

“Yes, you can. I want you to.”

“No,” he said, trying to pull away again. “This is your secret identity we’re talking about. You can’t just be so casual about it.”

“I’m not being casual about it. I’ve thought about this and I want you to know who I am. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

Tim stopped squirming and stared at him. “You’re really sure about this?”

“Yes. And I want you to be the one who takes it off.”

Tim swallowed, nervous for all kinds of reasons that he couldn’t pinpoint. Well, he _could_. This whole situation was crazy. They’d only known each other for what, a couple weeks? Somehow a relationship had blossomed out of that and they’d gotten closer. Tim blamed Hood for all of that because he was the one who wouldn’t leave him alone after he found out who he was and then there was the kiss and things got even messier.

He raised his hands, forcing the slight tremble from them even though it was a big fucking deal that Hood was willing to give Tim everything and he didn’t even know about Tim’s other activities. He peeled back the edges of the mask, mindful of the spirit gum, and worked his fingers around the edges until it was barely sticking to Hood’s face.

“You’re sure about this?

“Absolutely, Timbo.”

Tim rolled his eyes at the name, but let out a breath before pulling the mask away. His heart nearly stopped at the piercing blue-green eyes that his gaze met. Hood smile, grin lop-sided and cocky, but Tim was sure that nervous energy was thrumming underneath his skin at this, too.

“Hi Tim, my name’s Jason.”

“Um…uh-um…” Tim stammered, searching for something to say even as Hood-Jason’s-mask hung in the air between them.

“What’s wrong, did I take your breath away?” he asked, voice sly, but Tim could detect the uneasiness that was hidden underneath.

“I-uh-it’s just…”

Jason’s grin slipped off his face. “This didn’t make things weird did it?”

“No!” At least that was one word that he could get out. “Sorry, this is just…new.”

Jason pursed his lips, obviously trying to suppress a smile. “Yeah, that’s the point.”

Tim continued to stare at him and took in his whole appearance. The white streak of hair that hung from the center of his forehead was brushed off to the side, helping to frame his face. For the first time, Tim noticed the stubble that grazed Jason’s cheeks. It had probably been a day or so since he’d last shaved. His jaw was rounded, but not in a way that made him seem baby-faced.

Pushing the fact that Tim now knew his identity aside, he was taken aback by how handsome Jason was. Sure, he’d sort of had his suspicions and Jason was in amazing shape like the rest of the vigilantes of Gotham, but now he got to see what Jason looked like underneath the mask. He blamed it on the eyes. He was a sucker for a beautiful pair of eyes and Jason’s captured his attention, his sharp gaze holding his own whether he wanted to look away or not. And he had no intentions of looking away.

Blindly, Tim reached behind him and set the domino on the table. Jason glanced to the side and watched his hands before his eyes met Tim’s again. Now that his hands were free, he let himself run them up through Jason’s hair, pulling out the tangles that had formed even before he got into the down and dirty of patrol.

Tim let his fingers settle at the back of Jason’s neck and ran his thumbs over his cheekbones, skin catching on stubble and tickling the pads of his fingers, even through the callouses. Jason’s eyelids dropped and his gaze filled with heat, lighting something low in Tim’s belly that he pushed to the side. He swallowed as Jason pulled him closer, pressing their chests together as they balanced on the narrow kitchen chair.

“So I take it you like what you see?” Jason asked, voice low and gravelly.

“Yeah…” Tim breathed. He looped his arms around Jason’s shoulders, closing even more distance between them.

Jason surged upwards and claimed Tim’s lips for his own. He was expecting something filled with heat and desperation, but was met instead with a firm, steady kiss. It loosened the tense places inside of him and Tim felt himself melting against Jason’s body. Jason’s lips were slightly chapped, but they matched his own. Warmth spread through his body and he wasn’t aware of how much he really needed to breathe until Jason pulled away.

He sucked in precious oxygen as Jason pressed their foreheads together, intense gaze boring into his own.

“Kiss me like that again, and I’m hauling your ass back to your bed, patrol be damned,” Jason said with a low chuckle.

The statement made the fire return to Tim’s belly with a vengeance, but he tamped down on it, knowing that would be too much to process on top of everything else. He patted Jason’s shoulder and pulled himself from the chair despite Jason’s reluctant grip that fell from his hips.

“Not today. You have to go patrol and I need to get this cleaned up,” he said, collecting the plates and moving over to the sink. He turned on the water, glad that he didn’t have to stand around and wait for it to heat up so he could start washing.

Seconds later, Jason’s warmth engulfed him as he wrapped his arms around his waist from behind. “This isn’t going to make anything weird, is it?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Tim scoffed, trying to brush aside the guilt that was quickly building until he could get Jason out of his apartment.

“Does this mean that I can see you during daylight hours now?” he asked, dropping a kiss on Tim’s shoulder.

Tim hummed. “Maybe if you get your butt out and go patrol. We can go out and get coffee. It’ll be quite the scandal with the reporters. I can almost see the headlines now.”

Jason chuckled behind him and Tim was relieved when he squeezed his hips and stepped away. “Okay, okay. I’ll go patrol and tomorrow we can grab that coffee?”

Tim scrubbed at a stubborn greasy spot that was hanging onto the plate. “Sure thing.”

He didn’t hear Jason gather his things, but the sudden breeze of cold air signaled his departure. Tim waited a few moments, wanting to keep up his façade that everything was fine until he was sure Jason was gone.

After several minutes had passed he relaxed and finished cleaning the dishes, leaving them to try in the drain board. The guilt returned with a vengeance and he hurried to his bedroom to throw on his Red Robin uniform.

Jason had said that he didn’t want there to be any secrets between them, but Tim was still hiding a huge part of himself that Jason didn’t even know or suspect about. He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with everything, but getting out to patrol would hopefully clear his mind and help him figure out what to do.

~~

By the next morning, Tim had no clearer solutions as to how he was going to handle hiding that he was a vigilante from Jason, but he was tired enough that falling into bed after patrol and getting a few hours of sleep happened easily.

He’d nearly forgotten about everything when he woke up a few hours later and freshened up in the shower. That is, until his doorbell rang and he found Jason waiting for him on the other side.

“You didn’t forget about our coffee date, did you?” he teased.

“No, of course not!” Tim objected. “I just wasn’t thinking about it and we never set a time so I couldn’t exactly expect you.”

“You look kind of tired, everything good?” he asked, taking Tim’s hand in his own as they hit the sidewalk.

“Just had a late night, that’s all.”

Jason’s lips pursed and Tim fought down a wince because that wasn’t the best way to keep Jason in a good mood.

Before Jason could argue his continual point that Tim should just give up his work, Tim’s stomach growled, saving him from a fight he didn’t need on top of everything else.

“Looks like someone forgot breakfast.”

Tim blushed. “Like I said, late night. Slept in and didn’t have time for much more than a shower before you showed up.”

“Well then I’ll just have to make it up to you and buy you some food to go with your coffee.”

“You don’t need to buy me anything,” Tim spluttered.

Jason rolled his eyes. “I might not have to, but I want to. This is our first daytime date so give me the chance to be a gentleman, okay?” he asked, grinning.

Tim stared at him and opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

“Perfect,” he said, holding the door for Tim as the sweet scent of ground up beans and warmth wafted out into the Gotham air.

~~

The date was probably the best thing Tim had experienced in a long time. Jason had been nothing short of a gentleman, buying his drink and a muffin and holding doors for him. He even asked, politely, if he could have a kiss after walking him home. Tm was overwhelmed and the internet headlines that were already sprouting did nothing to help mend the gut-wrenching guilt that was still spreading because Jason didn’t know about his vigilante activities.

It was probably one of the reasons why he was so distracted when he went out to patrol that night. He threw himself into every fight that he came across, being more reckless than he usually would, but he felt he needed it. It was what he deserved for lying to Jason about this other part of his life when he’d already been so open and honest with him.

He hissed when a bullet cut through his side from one last goon who was refusing to go down. Tim hit him in the head with his bo and zip-tied him before putting in the call for the GCPD to come do pickup. He stumbled to the roof, hand pressed against his side. His blood was already slicking his glove.

“That’s going to need stitches,” he mumbled to himself as he aimed his grapple to a building across the street. He’d be able to make it home since he was close enough, but it wasn’t going to be pretty.

He crashed onto the roof of his apartment, rolling painfully across the gravel before he struggled to his feet. He made his way down the fire escape and into his apartment, managing to leave a clean trail until he fell through his window and got blood on the floor.

He groaned and staggered to his feet, one bloody hand going to the wound at his side and the other to the wall to steady himself. He breathed through the pain and once he gathered the will to move, he took cautious steps forward, keeping a hand on the wall to stay steady as he moved towards the bathroom. He knew that he was leaving a trail of blood, but he couldn’t really be bothered by that when he was still bleeding.

Tim nearly sobbed when he stumbled through the door of his bathroom and leaned against the wall. He tossed his gloves to the floor and pulled his domino mask off, hissing as the glue pulled at his skin uncomfortably.

He unclasped his cape and let that fall to the floor, adding his utility belt to the pile before he pulled the first aid kit from under the sink and sat down on the toilet seat. He pulled at the clasps of the top of his uniform and worked it open so that he could get to the wound on his side. His hisses and groans nearly caused him to miss the sound of his window opening.

His breath caught and he looked at the pieces of his uniform lying on the floor and the open door.

“Tim?!” Jason called from the living room, panic evident in his voice.

Tim struggled to get to his feet so he could at least shut the door, but Jason was there before he could get to it. His helmet was already gone, but he was still wearing his domino which meant Tim had no idea what he’s feeling. He worked his mask free and Tim watched as his eyes rove over the uniform pieces and finally up to his side where he was still bleeding.

“Sit,” he said and Tim did, relieved to be off his feet. He leaned against the sink and watched as Jason sat down on the side of the toilet, pulling his gloves free before digging around in the first-aid kit.

“Jason-“

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, dabbing at the cut with an antiseptic wipe. “I guess this explains why you’re so good at fighting.”

Tim sighed and closed his eyes. “Yeah. I’m not sure if all of your questions are answered by this or if you just have more questions.”

“Most of them are answered. I get why you kept insisting that you couldn’t stop your work now. But what I don’t get is why you had to go undercover if you’re already a vigilante.”

Tim shrugged and Jason smacked him for moving while he was trying to start the row of stitches. “I wasn’t getting much intel as Red Robin so I thought it would be best to try and put myself in the midst of it all. I was getting good information and had the chance to move in on the operations and that’s when you showed up and sort of turned everything upside down.”

Jason nodded and continued working, drawing a hiss from Tim.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

“I was going to tell you,” Tim blurted. “Or, I think I was.”

Jason quirked an eyebrow, but kept working.

“I felt guilty because you told me your identity, but I was still hiding this whole thing from you and I didn’t like it. I wanted you to know, but I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jason said, cutting the thread and packing up the first aid kit. “It was a lot and you shouldn’t have felt obligated to tell me anything.”

“I’m sorry,” Tim sighed.

Jason took Tim’s hands in his own. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. What’s happened, happened. The real question that I have is, do you still want to date me?”

“I feel like I should be asking you that. I’m the one who was keeping this from you.”

Jason smiled. “Yeah, but it’s not like you were cheating on me.”

Tim returned Jason’s smile and leaned forward, meeting Jason for a kiss.

“Come on,” he said, helping Tim to his feet. “Let’s get you cleaned up and into something more comfortable and then I think the two of use deserve to have a night on the couch watching some stupid movie.”

“Sounds great,” Tim said, wrapping his arms around Jason’s shoulders and pulling him down for one more kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback, comments, and kudos are loved and appreciated. 
> 
> Tumblr: my-one-love-is-music.tumblr.com
> 
> Twitter: twitter.com/m_o_l_i_m


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